Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Beetroot Soup with Goat's Cheese

Last night we celebrated K's birthday by inviting my parents and his mum and auntie over for a dinner. We started with this bright and nourishing beetroot soup, followed with a filling boeuf bourgoignon to please my dad (he did enjoy the beetroot & ginger cake he was served last time he visited, but he was still disappointed that there was no 'proper food' last time). We then entertained our dear guests with Piña Colada Espuma (second helpings for all the ladies, and if my dad hadn't been the designated driver, he would have probably helped himself to the seconds, too), and finished with a cup of coffee and a fancy peach souffle made by the birthday boy himself. A very enjoyable evening indeed..

I wrote about a beetroot soup only recently (Vegetarian Borscht, September 2007), but this is totally different, and just as nice. The recipe is straight off the Finnish Ruokala.tv site - Punajuuri-vuohenjuustokeitto* - the only difference is that I weighed the parsnip and celeriac to make the recipe more 'exact'. Not that it's necessary here, so if you wish, just play around with the amounts of various root vegetables in the soup. Also, the original recipe suggests you crumble the goat's cheese into the soup to make it more creamy, but I had bought a wrong goat's cheese for that purpose, so I just sliced the cheese and placed on top of the soup.

Peel the onion and chop finely.Peel the beets, celeriac and parsley, and chop finely or grate coarsely.Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, add the onion and saute for about 7-8 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add the beets, celeriac and parsnip and heat for a few minutes, stirring every now and then.Add the hot bouillon, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, until vegetables are softened.Cool a little, then process with immersion blender until smooth. Add the crumbled goat's cheese (reserve some for garnishing), season with salt and pepper.Divide into small soup bowls, garnish with extra cheese and some herbs.

I did think: 'Pille did something like this recently' so thanks for pointing out that's not the case. :) I love the sound of different vegetables in it, and I'm a huge sucker for goat's cheese. Hope K had a very happy birthday!

Pille ~ I love the tangy quality of goat's cheese and its interaction with the sweetness of beetroot. I think they marry well because of their underlying earthiness. This soup looks wonderful, and I love that the recipe calls for parsnip, an under-rated root vegetable (and one of Eric's most favourite).

To K.: Happy Belated Birthday! Good on you for making your own cake, a wonderful souffle, I'm sure. I'm turning 30 in January...Any ideas as to what I should make for it? ;-)